


The Thing About Love: The Emancipation of One Nico Di Angelo

by sufferingtears



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Nico di Angelo, Bisexual Will Solace, Depressed Nico di Angelo, Fluff, Gay Nico di Angelo, Idiots in Love, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Jason Grace is a Good Friend, Minor cursing, Multi, Nico di Angelo Needs a Hug, Nico di Angelo has Nightmares, Nico-centric, Swordplay, Three Days in the Infirmary (Percy Jackson), Will Solace is a Dork
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:34:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24295933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sufferingtears/pseuds/sufferingtears
Summary: Eros. He's the only god who truly terrifies Nico. The war is over, and things at Camp Half Blood have finally begun to go back to normal. But, that doesn't help to calm Nico's nerves. Not when he starts hearing the god's voice in his dreams. Nico decides to lie low. After all, who knows what Eros wants from him. And he would have succeeded if it weren't for a certain blond doctor. Nico doesn't understand why Will Solace is so determined to become his friend. Nor does he understand why Jason looks at him weirdly whenever Will is around. What he does know, however, is that the more time he spends with Will, the more frequently Eros speaks to him. Eros once told Nico that it's important to face your feelings. But Nico would rather jump off a cliff than make sense of it all. Gods, he's really in for it now, isn't he?
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Calypso/Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Nico di Angelo & Hazel Levesque, Nico di Angelo & Jason Grace, Nico di Angelo & Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Nico di Angelo & Will Solace, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Will Solace & Drew Tanaka, Will Solace & Leo Valdez, Will Solace/Drew Tanaka
Comments: 4
Kudos: 103





	1. It'll Only Hurt for a Second

In Nico's not-so-humble opinion, three days in the infirmary was three days too long. The War of Gaea had ended pretty recently. So recently, in fact, that there were still dozens of injured campers lying around the infirmary, waiting for their stab wounds and broken limbs to be tended to. And there he was among them, hospital gown and all. He’d be more embarrassed by his current outfit if he weren’t so furious. Alas, Nico wasn’t focused on his clothes. Instead, his thoughts consisted of Will Solace, and all the reasons he wanted to scream at the boy. 

When Will walked towards him, Nico was ready. His lecture had been carefully planned in his head, with each sentence perfected to the syllable. This only made it more infuriating when the doctor shot him a smile, and he instantly forgot what he had wanted to say. Nico began to wonder why he hadn’t left when he had the chance.

“Mornin’, Sunshine!” Will exclaimed, in a tone that was far too peppy for nine o’clock. “I’m glad you decided to join us.”

“You didn’t give me much of a choice.” Nico muttered, still upset. “And I thought I asked you to stop calling me that?”

Will’s smile only grew at his remark. “Well, somebody’s cheerful today.”

“Huh. I wonder why?”

“I asked you to come to the infirmary, I didn’t sentence you to prison. Besides,” Will playfully poked Nico in the side with his pen. “it’s for your own good.” 

As angry as Nico was, he knew Will was right. He looked awful. His skin was so pale that it almost looked green and you could see all of his bones. Plus, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d gotten a good night’s sleep. And so, begrudgingly, he hopped onto one of the cots and began letting Will examine him.

And that’s what Will did. He checked everything from Nico’s heartbeat to his reflexes to his hearing. If it were anyone else, Nico would’ve said they were being excessive. But, this was Will we’re talking about. Nico expected nothing less from the kid that matched his nail polish with his flannels. 

When Will explained that he had to run blood tests, Nico was less than pleased. You’d think after fighting a war, he’d be used to getting stabbed with pointy objects. But Nico despised needles. Will must’ve noticed this, because his smile, which had remained on his face until this point, had been replaced with a look of concern. Nico looked down out of embarrassment, only to be met by Will, who knelt down so he could see Nico’s face.

“Look at me. It’ll only hurt for a second, okay?”

Nico was angry with himself for being afraid, and he wanted to be angry at Will too. But, as much as he didn’t want to admit it, he could tell Will was being sincere. So, when he gave Will his arm so his blood could be drawn, he did his best to forget about his anger and fear. Once Will seemed satisfied with the amount of blood he collected, he turned to Nico, who was still trying to calm himself down.

“It’ll take at least an hour for us to run all the necessary tests.” he said, applying a bandage to Nico’s arm. “Why don’t you rest for a bit? You look like you could use it. I’ll make sure no one disturbs you.” 


	2. A Little Nudge in the Right Direction

Nico was on the ground, surrounded by darkness. There was no sign of life to be found; no voices or footsteps of any kind. Nico stood up and began to walk, panicked, trying to figure out exactly where he was. He half expected to be in Taurus. After all, that’s where most of his nightmares took place. But, Nico was unsure if he could even call this a nightmare. He could feel the hard ground beneath his feet and could feel cold air drifting in. He couldn’t recall a single dream, good or bad, where he was able to do that. But if this wasn’t a dream then what was going on, and why was he not in the infirmary?

A sudden cackling interrupted his thoughts. When Nico turned around, he saw a tall figure walking towards him. He appeared to be a stranger; his strawberry blonde hair and muscular figure were foreign to Nico. But, Nico had heard that laugh before, and his surroundings suddenly began to make more sense.

“Eros.” Nico hissed. Just saying his name left a bitter taste in Nico’s mouth.

“Nico Di Angelo” the god exclaimed, practically beaming. “It’s been a while.”

“I’m surprised you made yourself visible. Thought you would want me to reveal another secret first.”

“Why, Nico, darling,” he said in a mockingly offended tone. His hand was over his heart as if he’d just been shot. “Don’t tell me you’re still mad about that.”

“What are you doing here?” Nico asked, his tone making it obvious that he was, in fact, still mad about that.

“Touchy, aren’t we?”

“I’ll ask again: What are you doing here?”

“Charming as always. You know you’d think you and I would be pals by now. After all, death seems to be your specialty, and death and love are one in the same.”

“I don’t wanna hear another one of your little riddles, Eros!”

“Oh but you will. See, I’ve had my eye on you, and I have to say I’m impressed. I never expected you’d confess to Percy. That took some guts.”

“I thought you wanted me to tell him. Wasn’t that the point of the whole thing with Diocletian’s Scepter? You know, how you forced me to tell Jason about my crush? The whole ‘face your feelings’ bullshit?”

Instead of answering Nico’s questions, Eros only smiled before continuing. “I thought I’d be done with you by now, but it seems as though you’re unwilling to change.”

“Change what?” Nico asked, growing more impatient by the second. “Why are you here? Especially now?”

Once again, Eros continued his monologue without answering Nico’s questions. Nico began to wonder if he’d rehearsed this speech in the mirror before appearing. A part of Nico wanted to insult Eros for being so overdramatic, and to tell the god to leave him alone. But, a bigger part of him was worried about what would happen if their conversation ended too soon, or if his protests would only increase the number of Eros’ visits. So, Nico stayed silent.

“And so, since you remain set in your ways, I have no choice but to give you a little...nudge in the right direction.”

Nico grimaced at the word ‘nudge’. He would never understand Eros’ fascination with his love life or lack thereof. There must have been hundreds of far more interesting people with far more interesting lives in which Eros could meddle. And yet, here he was. Nico couldn’t tell if he was angrier at Eros for appearing out of the blue, or at himself for whatever he did that warranted a visit from a god. Either way, Nico was angry.

“You know how much I love our visits, but this one has to be cut short. I’ve got other matters to attend to.”

“Other matters? What’s going o--” Before Nico could finish, Eros snapped his fingers, and both the god and the dark room faded away.


	3. Kind of a Rough Day

Nico awoke in a cold sweat. He darted upright and began looking for any signs that Eros might be watching. But, Nico was back in the infirmary, surrounded by patients and medics, with no strawberry blond hair in sight. He must’ve looked half out of his mind, because the patient in the cot next to him, a young girl of about eight or nine, turned to him.  
“If you’re looking for Will, he’s in the office getting your blood test results. You don’t have to freak out” she said, matter-of-factly. “And you snore waaay too loudly. You might want to work on that.”  
“Thanks,” Nico said, deadpan, hoping she’d leave him alone.  
“You’re welcome!” She said cheerfully, clearly not getting the hint. Nico began to wonder why everyone at camp was so happy all the time. “I’m Paige!”  
“Okay.”  
“You’re Nico Di Angelo.”  
“I know.”  
“You don’t talk much, do you?”  
“Nope.”  
“Is it because you’re shy?”  
“Look,” Nico said, getting up. “I’m having kind of a rough day. I’m gonna go get some water. When I come back, I would really like some silence. Do you think you could talk to one of your other friends for now?”  
She nodded. Nico got up and began to walk towards the fridge, where the medics kept water and ginger ale. But, she stopped him.  
“Nico?”  
“Yeah?”  
“I’m sorry about your nightmare.”  
He smiled a bit at this. Not a huge, million-dollar, Apollo kid smile. But a small, barely visible one.  
“Thanks, Paige” he said, before he kept walking.  
As Nico walked, he could feel the other patients and medics staring at him. In fact, Nico was pretty sure they’d been staring at him since he arrived. This wasn’t abnormal. On the contrary, Nico had gotten pretty used to people’s stares. They’d been happening more frequently as he got older until eventually, they became a part of Nico’s daily routine. So, he ignored their staring and went on with his business.  
Just as Nico grabbed a water bottle, he heard Will’s voice from the other room. Will’s voice sounded almost upset, which was a rare occurrence for the boy. Against his better judgment, Nico decided to listen.  
“Look, I don’t care what you think okay?” he heard Will shout.  
“Will, you have to understand, we’re just trying to look out for you!” retorted another voice, probably another medic since the door to the room said ‘Medics Only’.  
“By doing what? By ruining my chances with--”  
“Your chances? Will, are you even listening to yourself? It’s just a crush, okay? It’ll pass eventually!”  
“It’s not just a crush and you know it!”  
“Whatever you want to call it, it’s no reason to act irrationally!”  
Nico couldn’t take it. The more of that conversation he heard, the more upset he grew. So, he took his water and went back to his cot, the Apollo children’s conversation still swimming through his mind.  
Nico was unsure why he cared so much. Will and Drew have had a weird on again-off again relationship for months. Of course Will would want to be with her, and of course his siblings would object. It was the only context that made sense.  
Drew was the opposite of Will in every way. If Drew was being kind, it was only out of the desire for personal gain. Piper said Drew felt bad for being so rude to people, and that she was trying to be nice. But Nico knew this couldn’t be true. If it was true, then that would mean she actually had feelings for Will. And she most certainly didn’t.  
When Will emerged, papers in hand, Nico felt like he was going to be sick. He only hoped that Will couldn’t tell.  
“Glad to see you’re awake. I could use some cheering up.” Will said with a small smile.  
"Is everything okay?"

"Of course! Just family stuff. No biggie." Will responded with a shrug. It was clear that he didn't want to talk about what just went down, and Nico didn't blame him. Fighting with siblings can be really hard. So, Nico didn't call Will out on his bluff.

“Anyway, we finished all the tests. You’ve got a lot of deficiencies, more than I thought was possible. A calcium deficiency, an iron deficiency…”  
Nico stopped listening. His mind was preoccupied with more important things than his health. Both Eros’ and Will’s words were circling his mind. Nico had a million different questions. Why did Eros want to speak to him? What was he planning on doing? Why does he care so much about Nico’s life? Why does Will want to get back together with Drew? What does Drew want from Will? And as much as Nico wanted answers, he had no way of getting them. Nico only knew one thing: today was going to be a long day.


	4. Scary Doesn’t Even Begin to Describe it

The clock on the infirmary wall was excruciatingly loud to Nico. While staff and patients alike seemed not to notice, the clock’s ticking rang in Nico’s ears as though it were trying to mock him. Throughout the day, as medics brought him his meals and new campers were brought in, Nico found himself lost in thought, almost hypnotized by the constant and continuous sound of the second-hand moving. So, when it was time for Will to bring Nico his supper, Nico did not greet the blond with his usual eye roll and sarcastic remark. Instead, the boy sat in his cot silently, unaware of Will’s presence, Eros’ voice replaying in his mind to the perpetual rhythm of the ticking clock.  
“You alright there, Neeks?” Will asked, snapping Nico back into reality. Instead of answering, Nico only nodded and outstretched his arm to accept the plate of food from the doctor. The meal was a simple one: pork, brown rice, and water. He’d been served some form of meat at every meal so far. Will claimed that eating it would help with Nico’s iron deficiency. But when mixed with the stench of the bleeding flesh of other patients, all the meat did was make Nico feel nauseous. Nico knew better than to fight with Will, however, so he ate as much as his stomach allowed him to, trying his best to ignore the smell.  
“One day and you look better already! We should have you fixed up and out of here in no time!” Will exclaimed. Despite his enthusiastic tone, Nico couldn’t help but notice how tired Will seemed. His hair was messier than usual and the circles underneath his eyes were dark and prominent. Nico found himself wondering how a boy who preached self-care could allow himself to be overworked and overburdened like that. Nevertheless, Will continued smiling what appeared to be a genuine smile.  
“Penny for your thoughts?” Will asked, Nico’s silent and nonchalant disposition seeming to fill the blond with concern. When Nico didn’t answer, he added, “I promise not to judge.”  
“Relax, it has nothing to do with you. I think I’m just particularly angry with the gods today.”  
“Did something happen?”  
Nico wasn’t sure if it was pride or shame that was preventing him from telling Will about Eros. Whatever the reason, Nico decided against telling him, replying instead with, “I guess I was just thinking about the war again.”  
Will nodded solemnly. “Yeah, don’t think anyone’s fully recovered from it. Scary stuff, wasn’t it?”  
“Scary doesn’t even begin to describe it.”  
Will looked down, picking at his already chipped nail polish. “I’m sorry for all the shit you had to go through, Neeks. That war challenged us all, but you the most. You shouldn’t have had to face all that alone.”  
When Nico looked up, he saw tears streaming down the blond’s face. Will was known to be overly emotional, but Nico had never seen the boy cry before. He found himself searching for something to say, wanting desperately to make the blond happy again. There was something about Will’s sadness that unsettled Nico. But, before he found the right words, another medic approached Will and tapped him on the shoulder.  
“Will, an Ares camper just came in with a broken collar bone. Would you mind taking a look?”  
And with that, Will wiped his tears and walked away, leaving Nico alone, the clock still ticking next to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank y'all for being so incredibly patient with me! I'm going to try and make my updates more regular, with a new chapter every Friday.


End file.
